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AUTHOR'S NOTE
Dear Reader,
Most of the homes in my books are inspired by real places you can visit. Cainewood Castle is loosely modeled on Arundel Castle in West Sussex. It has been home to the Dukes of Norfolk and their family, the Fitzalan Howards, since 1243, save for a short period during the Civil War. Although the family still resides there, portions of their magnificent home are open to visitors and more than worth a detour, should you ever find yourself in the area.
I hope you enjoyed The Laird’s Fairytale Bride! Next up is Kendra’s story in The Duke’s Reluctant Bride. Please read on for an excerpt as well as more bonus material!
Always,
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LAUREN & DEVON’S NEXT BOOK IS…
The Duke’s Reluctant Bride
The Chase Brides
Book Four
Lady Kendra Chase’s brothers insist it’s high time she wed. But although they've presented her with an abundance of suitable young men, no one has caught her fancy—until her coach is held up by a dashing, mysterious highwayman. When the two of them are caught in a compromising embrace and her overprotective brothers demand they marry, Kendra is aghast. Are they really desperate enough to match her with an outlaw?
Scottish-born Patrick “Trick” Caldwell is the new Duke of Amberley—and also the so-called Black Highwayman. But he’s about to realize that leading a double life isn’t nearly as complicated as marriage. When he’s compelled to wed beautiful, headstrong Kendra, he finds himself caught between his perilous secret mission and his watchful new bride. Can Trick untangle the web of half-truths and heartache before he loses his one chance at love?
Read an excerpt…
Sussex, England
June 1668
KENDRA CHASE adored her brothers, except when she wanted to kill them.
“Jason is right,” Ford told her as they rattled down the road in a shabby public coach. “You’re eighteen years old, and it’s high time you take a husband.”
“You’re eighteen as well,” she retorted, glaring at her twin, “but I don’t see you being dangled before every eligible lady in the county.”
Ford rolled his eyes. “It’s different for men, Kendra, and you know it.”
She did know it. But she didn’t have to like it.
“We only wish to see you live a life of comfort,” Jason put in. Crammed onto the bench seat between Kendra and his wife, Caithren, he tried unsuccessfully to stretch his long legs. “Or would you prefer to travel this way all the time?”
As if to drive home his point, the springless vehicle lurched in and out of a rut, rattling Kendra’s teeth. She gritted them. Though Jason was careful with money, he was, after all, the Marquess of Cainewood, and they did own a much more luxurious carriage. But one of its wheels had broken on their way out of London, and they’d been forced to take public transport—or else risk missing an urgent appointment back home at Cainewood Castle.
An appointment to introduce Kendra to the latest “suitable” man her brothers planned to foist upon her.
“Better the public coach than the Duke of Lechmere’s,” she said stubbornly. “I vow and swear, I’ll not become a duchess and be ‘your graced’ for the rest of my life.”
“And what, pray tell, would be wrong with that?” Jason shook his head. “I’ve never understood what you have against dukes.”
Kendra turned her glare on her eldest brother. “You may not understand my feelings, but plainly you were aware of them—and yet you approached Lechmere anyhow.” She noticed the other passenger, a stranger dressed in simple clothing, was observing their argument with frank interest. She glared at him, too.
A noise of agreement rose from Caithren’s corner of the coach. “I told you, Jase, that his grace wouldn’t suit Kendra,” she said in her Scottish brogue.
“And I told you, Cait, that she’s got no good reason to refuse him.”
Kendra huffed. “But he’s a—”
“Yes, he’s a duke,” Jason snapped, “that most abominable of creatures.” He began gathering the cards from the hand of piquet they’d just played. “You’ve dithered long enough. This is your last chance to make your own choice. If you won’t marry Lechmere, you’ll have to select one of the other gentlemen who have offered for you. Or I will do the selecting.”
“The other gentlemen?” Scoffing, Kendra tossed her head of dark red curls. “Old but well-off, or widowed and settled with children, or young but just plain boring. Stable, wealthy gentlemen in the good graces of King Charles, every last one of them.”
Jason’s green eyes flashed. “Yes, perfectly acceptable, every last one of them.”
“As it should be,” Ford put in, earning a kick from his twin sister. She would have kicked Jason, too, if she thought for an instant he meant to enforce his ultimatum. The wretched day had put him in a bad mood, that was all. He’d never marry her to someone she disliked.
Would he?
In any case, Caithren wouldn’t let him.
Kendra leaned forward to give her sister-in-law an imploring look. “They’ll never understand, will they?”
Cait’s eyes filled with sympathy and a bit of shared exasperation. She laid a hand on her husband’s arm. “I’ve told you before, Kendra wishes to marry for love, not—”
“Stand and deliver!” a deep voice interrupted
